If you try to share a news article on Facebook without opening it, you may soon see a notification encouraging you to read it first. The feature is currently being tested on the platform, aiming to promote a more informed/aware sharing.
Facebook urges users to read the news before sharing it
Facebook wants you to look beyond the headline and actually read the news article you are about to share with your friends.
In a tweet from the Facebοok Newsroom, Facebook said that “it is testing a way to prompt a more informed sharing of news articles.” When users repost an article based on its headline, they may unintentionally promote fake news – Facebook intends to address this issue with its new prompt.
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If you try to share an article you haven't opened on Facebook, you will see a notification that says: “You are about to share this article without opening it. Sharing articles without reading them may mean that basic facts are missing.”
Facebook then gives you two ways to respond to this message: Open Article and Continue Sharing. In other words, you can choose to read the article you are about to post or continue sharing it without reading it.
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Twitter unveiled a similar prompt
Facebook clearly took this message directly from Twitter's playbook. In September 2020, Twitter launched a notification that appears when users try to retweet an article they haven't opened. Paradoxically, Twitter saw some success with this feature – the prompt actually increased the likelihood of users reading the article before they retweet.
Twitter and Facebook are both working to crack down on misinformation – and both use similar measures to do so. The similarities in the responses of both platforms have become particularly apparent amid the COVID-19.
While Twitter bans users who post fake news about vaccines for COVID-19, Facebook removes posts that contain false claims about vaccines. With the two platforms feeding each other's misinformation-fighting techniques, it is no surprise that Facebook is also exploring the news opening prompt feature.
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Will Facebook be freed from misinformation?
The new Facebook prompt will have only a small impact on a much larger problem. It is likely that many users will end up sharing unread articles in the moment, especially if the title is quite shocking.
And because Facebook cannot force you not to post certain things (unless it violates Facebook's rules), misinformation will always be a problem. That's why it's important to know how to detect misinformation, as well as how to find reliable news sources.
Information source: makeuseof.com
